'Do the right thing:' Wife’s message for hit-and-run driver who nearly killed her husband

The wife of a bicyclist who was nearly killed by a hit-and-run driver in North Portland wants the driver responsible to turn their self in.

"How could somebody do that and just leave somebody for dead?" said Lori Cooley, who spoke with FOX 12 from Legacy Emmanuel Hospital, where her husband, Michael, was in critical condition Sunday evening.

The couple had planned to spend Father's Day with their son and grandchildren, but now Lori said her husband may have brain damage and might not be able to walk again.

She said the 59-year-old postal service worker was riding his bike home after his swing shift at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, when a white pickup hit him from behind near the intersection of North Greeley and Interstate Avenue.

"He got thrown 30 to 40 feet is what the witnesses said," said Lori. "He got knocked out of his shoes. It was a really bad impact."

The impact left Michael seriously wounded. Lori said two drivers who witnessed the crash stopped to help by calling 911 and giving her husband CPR until paramedics arrived.

Lori doesn't know who the two Good Samaritans were, but she wants to let them know they saved her husband's life.

"I would love to meet them and thank them for saving my husband's life," she said. "They were angels of God and God sent them there to help save his life. I would love to thank them."

Lori said it is still touch and go right now, but Michael probably faces months of painful rehabilitation in the hospital for dozens of injuries throughout his entire body.

"He has two broken vertebrae in his spine. He could be paralyzed from the waist down," she said. "He's got two chest tubes for bleeding in his lungs and they had to do emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen."

Lori said her husband has been bicycling to work for 15 years and was wearing reflective gear and a helmet at the time of the crash.

"The trauma surgeon said it saved his life because it split and cracked and a lot of the insulating material disintegrated," she said.

Lori said police told her the vehicle that hit Michael was a white pickup with Oregon plates. It should have major front-end damage from the crash. She doesn't know why the driver didn't stop but she wants them to know it isn't too late to do the right thing.

"I have a terminal disease and we have huge medical bills already," she said. "So I can't even begin to think if Mike's going to be here for months, what we're going to end up with. So we're just praying that he'll do the right thing and hopefully he has insurance and he would be able to live with himself by doing the right thing and turning himself in."

If you have any information about the pickup or the driver who hit Michael, call Portland police.

You can donate to help the family with medical bills at any U.S. Bank branch. A fund has been set up in Michael Cooley's name.

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